World Textile Information Network (WTiN) is hosting a live summit at its virtual Innovate 2021 event.
Sponsored by Epson, the event takes place during WTiN Innovate – Textile Innovation Week – which runs from October 25-29, 2021.
The first day of the event will kick off with a keynote speech from Dirk Vantyghem, Director General, Euratex. The keynote will address the ‘EU textiles strategy - a new framework for the European textile & apparel industry’ Following this, there will be panel sessions on ‘The state of skills in the apparel industry in 2021’ and ‘The Impact of Covid-19: Accelerating digitalisation and sustainable production in textile manufacturing’.
The next keynote speech will come from Ian Cronin, Community Curator, World Economic Forum. He will present ‘Circular economy – digital systems to authenticate fashion goods, fight counterfeiting and unlock the resale market’. A panel session, chaired by the American Functional Fabrics of America (AFFOA), will then look at the smart textile and apparel industry. Entitled, ‘From lab to commercialisation of smart textile products’ the session will look at approaches to making textiles ‘smart’ and the importance of cross-disciplinary partnerships.
The second day of the event will open with a keynote from XuYingxin, Vice President of the Chinese National Textile & Apparel Council (CNTAC). ‘Supply chain resilience in the textile & apparel value chain’ will be the next keynote on the second day of the event, presented by Joshua Hinkel, Partner, Bain & Company. It will discuss how changes in the business environment have altered demands on supply chains and the essential need for traceability and transparency in the supply chain.
The final day of the Summit will begin with a panel from Leeds City Region (LCR) on ‘Textiles 2030: Leeds City Region and India – Driving textile sustainability’. The session will explore how key organisations and businesses in India and LCR are working together to drive global textile sustainability.
